Sebastian Schleidgen (ed.): Should we Act Morally? Essays on Overridingness

Suppose I am thinking what to do with my evening. I could either go and volunteer at a local soup kitchen or I could spend my time reading a novel. Presumably, in this case morality would recommend volunteering while self-interest might recommend reading the novel. It is a common thought amongst moral philosophers that it is the moral considerations that determine what we ought, all things considered to do because moral reasons override other kinds of normative reasons. I will call this The Overridingness Thesis (OT). This collection offers eight essays focused on this thesis. The editor deserves praise for compiling a broad range of approaches to the question.

Three of the eight essays in this collection address head on the question of whether OT is true. Sarah Jane Fairbanks’ essay defends OT against a number of ways of making the charge that this view risks jeopardizing personal integrity. This is an interesting and thorough discussion and the decision to make this the first chapter...